Unsafe Daycare Playground

When you take legal actions you do so for basically 3 reasons. To recoup losses you've incurred, instigate a change in behavior or environment or to punish the daycare.

Recouping losses.
If you have had to pay above and beyond your insurance then the day care might be accountable for payment of those bills. So, your co pay and band-aids, neosporin etc and maybe lost time from work. You're talking about under $500, I would assume. It will cost you more to hire a lawyer than that. So, you wouldn't actually be gaining anything. The judge might even see this a frivolous lawsuit and order you to pay the legal fees of the daycare.

Change of Behavior / Environment
In this case, if your daughter is the first person to fall and they immediately added wood chips to the pile as you requested then you've already accomplished your goal without you having to pay for lawyers and have a long drawn out court case.

Punitive Damages
If the daycare was "willfully negligent" by not having the gap filled with wood chips (which means that 12 competent adults would have to rule that if they saw the step it would have to register with them that it might be dangerous BEFORE an accident occurred). Would 12 competent adults be able to find that the daycare knew it was dangerous and did nothing, risking the safety of their kids? Had you ever been on the playground and walked down those steps? if it's cement that extends from the last step to where the playground starts and there is a natural divider between the two it's hard to tell without seeing a picture. But if they didn't know it was unsafe and did nothing, willfully.... then you have no lawsuit.

Also as far as punitive damages, I'm not sure the scar of one toddler will inspire a judge to award you a large settlement of money. If your daughter were disfigured, that's another issue. A scar from her hairline to her eyebrow when she's a toddler will only be "damaging" to her if YOU let it be and if you teach her to focus on the scar.

Now that they have filled the gap with wood chips, have you kept your daughter there? That means you feel that she is safe enough in their care after they fixed the issue that led to an ACCIDENT.

I know it is frustrating when our baby gets hurt. But unless you plan on wrapping her in bubble wrap and storing her in a closet she will get hurt again. and again. and again.
I haven't seen the scar, but to say 'nothing will ever make up for the fact that my 2 year old has a scar" tells me it's either a really disfiguring scar or you are being a mamabear. If you're being a mamabear, that's understandable but we can't punish everything and everyone that hurts our kids.

"Doing right by your daughter" means teaching her the spirit of forgiveness and moving on and that accidents happen.

Good Luck.

Well, if your child fell off the play structure at a public park, or tripped on a rock & knocked her tooth out? Would you sue the city?

Exactly how large was the gap? I'd love to see a picture of it. If she's 2, she most likely fell because she is clumsy, and it was an accident, aided by the large gap

I would not sue over something like that. The playground was most likely "up to code" in the first place. They have rectified the problem, so I am not sure what else you want from them.

If you don't trust them with your child, then find another childcare center.

When my youngest daughter was 2 1/2 she was at a YMCA with my husband while our other two girls were in gymnastics. There was a closet door open right next to the drinking fountain. In the closet there was a reffing stand, used for volleyball leaning up against the stairs. It was a heavy, metal stand with steps on wheels. My daughter crawled on the first step, the thing came crashing down, and hit her in the jaw, breaking it completely in half.

She had to endure a surgery the next day to wire her jaw shut for six weeks. Her permanent tooth (right where the break was) came out discolored and crooked.

We chose NOT to sue the YMCA (in fact, it didn't occur to us to until EVERYONE encouraged us to do so!) Accidents happen. Was my husband at fault for not watching her? Probably. Was the Y at fault for not securing a reffing stand? Absolutely. One little 30 lb. girl was able to tip it over. This situation could have killed my child or at the very least permanently disabled her, had it hit her brain. Did we sue? No. We did ask the Y to find a better way to store these stands and they did. End of issue.

In this world, the first thing people think about is a lawsuit. Quick money, in the name of "pain and suffering." Someone should have to "pay."

Simply ask the daycare to remedy this situation and be satisfied with the fact that the crack is not an issue any longer, for your child or any other.

"Simply ask the daycare to remedy this situation and be satisfied with the fact that the crack is not an issue any longer, for your child or any other."

I agree. When I was 9, I was playing on a sidewalk outside my elementary school, fell, cut my head open, and have a scar. Nobody sued and nobody really thought more of it. Look in your contract to see who is liable for medical expenses after an accident (likely just you). If you are truly upset with the facility, find another place to watch your child.

Use scar cream on the scar later to make it lighter. Mine is barely noticeable.

Vitamin E oil, applied to the affected skin will help minimize the scar. She is young and has a lot of growing to do, so it should fade.

As for suing - there is no reason to do so. Unfortunately, accidents happen - my son spent more time falling over at that age than he did standing upright. He fell at home, daycare, Grandma's, the neighbors, everywhere.

If you are still using the daycare center, of course, ensure that they fixed the step. If you are still uncomfortable with their care of your daughter then find another daycare and thoroughly inspect the facilities before you enroll her.

Good Luck
God Bless

Why would you sue? Would it make you happy to try to "hurt' them? Are you willing to invest the time and money to sue? Are you willing to become known to everyone at that daycare (including parents of children who attend) and have the reputation of suing when accidents happen?

Accidents do happen. Your daughter is young. Vitamin e oil works wonders on scars and it is in the vitamin section of your local pharmacy for about $5. The scar will most l ikely completely fade.

I know you are upset about your daycare and I understand your frustration. If you are still uncomfortable after talking with them, then it is time to take your daughter out and find a place, maybe smaller, that you are comfortable with. Don't work yourself up so much over something that you can fix easily be removing her from the situation that you don't like.

There will be a lot of things happen that get you worked up.... pick your battles.

Suing is not going to help anyone. Trying to "hurt" someone and "make them pay" is not right either.

I know she is your only child right now and you are a new mom. I am also protective of my only child who is 17 but we all have to understand that accidents happen on everyone's clock... not just a daycare.

I said this on another post regarding suing and will repeat.... we HAD neighbors who seemed to be nice people, she was a Dr., he was in IT. At a neighborhood gathering, they had a bit too much to drink and let it slip how they staged slip and falls,etc, and had made a good sum of money from suing that year. Within a year, they sold the house (we are upscale neighborhood) and moved out of town partly because after that bragging session on how easy it was to get money by suing, NO ONE in our neighborhood ever associated with them again because we did not want them on our property and have an opportunity to sue. Everyone avoided them mainly because no one wanted to be sued and secondly because there is little respect for sue happy people.

Her scar will fade and will most likely totally disappear in a few months to a year... it was only about 2 months ago, kids are accident prone and I have seen many cuts like that come and go. I had a serious facial injury when I was 4, it required many deep stitches all over my face, I almost lost an eye. Only one tiny scar is visible now and only if I show people where it is. What will taking legal action do? She was on a playground, accidents happen, children cannot be 100% protected from bumps and falls all the time, even under constant supervision. The daycare already made it right by filling the gap, so you really can't sue for them to fix anything. Do you have medical bills for stitches or Dr. bills? If no, then you can't sue for monetary damages. You cannot sue for pain and suffering or disfigurement. You can file a complaint or accident report, several people in your last thread gave you links to the dfps state site. You can choose to not fund their business by taking her out of the school. There are hundreds of daycares in N. Fort Worth, go to a different one if you don't feel comfortable there, but keep in mind that bites, cuts and bruises are bound to happen at even the best schools. But suing for pay back is overboard and unnecessary, and it sounds like unfounded.

Don't take legal action. Kids fall. I'm sorry your daughter fell and got cut, but this is nothing to sue about. Not that, at two, she understands or would really care, but suing them sends all the wrong messages to your daughter. They filled in more wood chips and this hasn't happened with other kids. It would be different if it was happening all the time or if they were having them jump off of something down onto the playground as the only way to access it.

i agree kids get hurt, my son has ran into walls because no one was stopping him and other children from running in the room, and had a HUGE egg sized bump on his head. another time he decided to jump on the slide and split his head needing stitches. it happens. he also has his fair share of accidents at home. don't get worked up over it.

I understand that you think about this every single time you look at your daughter. But what you described really wasn't that unsafe. What kind of drop off between the sidewalk and the chips are we talking about? Is it an inch or two, 7? More? I mean really. I doubt it was much higher than a normal step. We just built steps to the house this summer. There was so much discussion about the code for step height and where to put the odd step. There's always an odd step of a few inches shorter or longer. Then it has to be chosen to put it at the top or the bottom. This is life. She'll get many more falls and I agree that the scar will fade. Rub in fading creams, vitamin E and preps made for scars. But it will fade anyway over time. I've seen some scars fade over a period of years. I burned almost all the skin off my right hand in a bad accident. I had scars for 20 years or so. You can not tell now that anything ever happened.

Plain and simple accident. Your child will have many more. No one is at fault. It was simply an accident. Ask your pedi about the scar. It will probably fade as she grows and become completely unnoticeable.

I agree with the others about not suing - accidents happen and the daycare has since fixed the problem. I would think that their facility was reasonably safe since children were not tripping from the gap regularly.

Of course you are upset and it makes you feel better to focus on the daycare's responsibility. The problem is that toddlers fall and get hurt ALL THE TIME. My toddlers fall and scrape their faces literally standing or walking right next to me on a flat surface. My three year old fell at daycare last summer and needed to go to the doctor to get "glue." My only surprise was that an injury serious enough for medical attention hadnt happened sooner.

If it makes you feel better, I fell on into a rock fireplace when I was four, and needed stitches in my chin. Now, as an adult, you can only see the scar if you are looking closely and just inches away.

I think your daughter's scar will fade quickly and follow the other people advise about creams (and also use sunscreen on it for a year).

You can call the state agency. Every daycare is required to post the contact info. If you are uncomfortable looking for it there, call a church daycare and explain your current daycare has an issue(not them) and you want to call without them knowing it is you.

I know many people imagine suing pays off big time, but did you know the insurance companies keep track of who sues and all the details? If you sue for a bunch of little things, when you have a serious reason, your case is much weaker.

My son had a horrible scratch across his face when was 3. My stomach turned just looking at it. I asked the pharmacy and they recommended Bio Oil. (the man's wife had knee surgery and used Bio Oil on one knee and just Vitamin E on the other. And said the Bio Oil scar healed best). That along with time worker. You can't see it anymore. And believe me it was bad! I know it's heartbreaking. Especially when it's on their face. I had read your first post about this. My oldest went to the same daycare. His fingers were closed in a door my another teacher (they havr guards now) and there was an incident were he was bit in the gym by a girl. They tried to tell me it was a pinch but it was obviously a bite on his back shoulder. When I pressed for video they discouraged me from viewing. Saying they looked and you couldn't see anything. I wonder if all the cameras even record? I kept him there since he only went part time and that girl with a history of biting left. Plus the academics at the time were good and I realized accidents will happen. As I have discovered with my youngest at a different school. Take care

Okay, I am going to assume your child is not the only child in this facility. So my question would be to you:

How many children go safely up and down those steps each and every day.

How many inches from the bottom step to the wood chips was it? It can be up to the standard height for a regular step, what is that measurement and how much more was this gap?

Is your child the only one to fall and get hurt?

Was she starting to get excited about going outside and maybe got tangled up in her feet?

Is it possible she wasn't holding the rail and listening to the teacher?

Could it have been she was starting to run and didn't quite make it off the steps before her feet realized they needed to step down first?

*****************************************
I think I would call the county licensing worker and discuss this with her. At the very least the facility should have liability insurance to cover her medical costs and her pain and suffering if you should decide to sue them.

If she has a permanent scar that will effect her self image and self worth for the rest of her life, then that is an issue to me.